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Future Gazing as Future Shaping

Nobody can predict the future. However, we all have the ability to mentally remove ourselves from the present in order to imagine events and states of the world that are yet to happen. This means that we all have at least some ability to predict a wide range of possible futures, some of which are likely to be more preferable to us than others. From this range of possible futures we may then pick the one we most desire and work toward making it a reality.

Choosing the Best Tomorrow

As the above indicates, future gazing as future shaping is all about taking actions today to select and work toward the possible future we most desire. In the same way that an architect may draw designs of many possible buildings for a particular location -- only one of which can be chosen to be built there -- so future gazing as future shaping is the process by which we can all try to imagine several possible futures before playing our role in influencing the actuality of tomorrow.

The key to successful future gazing as future shaping is obtaining the best information today that will enable us to predict the most likely range of possible futures. Indeed, in business often the greatest mistake is getting trapped in local, short-term thinking and hence not seeing the forest for the trees. This website is therefore a resource for both companies and individuals seeking to obtain a helicopter perspective on a broad range of developments and ideas that may help us to foresee and choose from a wide range of future scenarios. Or to put it another way, this website is intended to help people broaden their thinking about the many possible worlds of tomorrow, only some of which we would ever want to become a reality.

Challenges, Technologies, Trends and Mindsets

The content on this site is mainly categorized into challenges, trends, technologies and mindsets. Future challenges are those major inevitabilities with which we will all have to contend sometime in the future, even if the easiest thing today is to ignore them. In contrast, future trends are those emerging social, cultural and organizational phenomenon that may arise out of and/or drive future challenges and technologies, but over which humanity has a great deal of choice.

Future technologies are those innovations in the hardware, software and media of human civilization that may shape the future, and which may on some occasions also determine human action. Finally, future mindsets are a range of mental tools and perspectives that we may employ to help us recognise and plan for radical change.

Also included on this site are an extensive range of videos from the ExplainingTheFuture YouTube Channel and an image gallery to assist in bringing to life key ideas and information. And if after all that you want assistance with using this kind of material in your business or an educational setting, then please do get in touch.

You can also find more information on hiring me as a keynote speaker or workshow facilitator here.

With Best Wishes for your most preferable tomorrow,

Christopher Barnatt.

gold earth

We need to craft the future in our heads before we can create it with our collective hands.


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